Dream Verses Reality

Alright...I don't seem to really understand why but the mystery camera "glitch out" virus seems to be attacking more than just our house! I have heard of numerous friends over the last couple weeks who have suffered at the hands of the camera "glitch out" virus - and let me tell you: IT'S NOT PRETTY!

So, after borrowing, and borrowing some more, and trying to investigate all the options we have on our video camera (which by the way is just back up and running too!) we finally had to break down a buy a new digital camera this weekend.

This is where the dream vs. reality comes in........

Dream: The Canon Rebel XTi (can't you hear the angels singing!)

Reality: The Canon PowerShot A550

Now, I'm kind'a an all or nothing girl, which in times like this makes life difficult. I'm working on changing but for now let's put it in the "still in process" file. In this case all or nothing was a difference of $1000 bucks - which at this moment is for sure out of our price range. So, I had to choose "something" over "nothing" and this is what I ended up with.......the Canon A550 a great point & shoot camera that's super light, has a fantastic zoom and I can tote around with me to document life.

So for those of you out there who need a new camera - check it out! Oh ya, and I haven't forgotten about the Rebel - it will come......eventually!

Let the Celebration Begin! - Part 2

Our weekend of celebrations continued Saturday morning as Madelyne had been invited to attend Caleb's third birthday. The theme was dress as your favorite superhero, when we asked Madelyne who her favorite superhero was she said she wanted to be Tinkerbell.

(I think she just ignored the "superhero" part and saw this as her chance to get a fairy costume!)

Except for the masks the other kids were wearing she had a fantastic time - even a little pizza in her wings didn't stop her from buzzing around at 100 miles per hour.

Funny thing is...she happens to respond better when I call her "Tink" than when I call her "Madelyne" - so, if you happen to be within earshot and hear my call my daughter Tink, don't think I'm crazy.....understand that my motives are to get a three year old to listen to her mama.

Let the Celebration Begin! - Part 1

This past weekend was a marathon of celebration after celebration...

• Friday night, Rhonda and friends hosted a birthday party for a friend of ours - Tony. It was a great night full of good friends, fun times and some interesting conversation (for those who stayed till the end, you'll know what I mean!!!) Madelyne got to hang out for the first half of the party - then she had to say goodnight. Here's a few pics of the party girl!

Madelyne with her Transformers party hat for Tony's party!




Madelyne as the DJ working the iTunes on Auntie Roo's computer!

Mother of Many!

Okay, so if you have more than five kids you can join a mom's group called, "Mothers of Many." Personally, I don't know if I could ever handle more than five kids - but this week I am - at least part time anyways.

Our great friends, Grant and Jenn, are expecting the arrival of their third babe anytime now. In fact, Jenn has had some major contractions for the last few days. All of this adds up to two false alarms, one Sunday and one today.

So right now I'm a part-time "mother of many" - here's the list:
Madelyne (mine biologically!) - age three
Emma (mine biologically!) - days away from being "1"
Lavonne - our ESLI Trinity student
Lauren - age 6 (belongs to Grant and Jenn)
Luke - age 3 (belongs to Grant and Jenn)

So I've been coordinating university, school, preschool, gymnastics, ballet and transport to and fro all these things for all of the people above.

Oye vey.......

I applaude those true "mothers of many" - you are amazing!

Adventures In Applesauce

Today I embarked on making applesauce on my own for the very first time. I'm sure there are some expert canners out there, but not I. I don't recall my mom doing much canning when I was growing up, so, I am not well versed in the art of canning. And let's make it clear - it is an art! A couple years ago Matt and I tried making jam, so I knew I had all the tools I needed for today's adventure so why not give it a shot?!?! The process was actually very simple - the most difficult part was cutting, peeling and slicing all the apples.

I guess that just means I have a reason to buy a few more Pampered Chef tools to make my next applesauce adventure that much more efficient :-)